This could not be further from the truth. The Liberal Democrats have a well-deserved reputation for standing up for civil liberties and fighting moral injustice. The announcement by the Home Office on which the story was based in fact shows that the coalition is committed to bringing an end to the detention of children.

You reported that "Damian Green, the immigration minister, said during the Conservative conference last month that the practice would be ended by December". Green has indeed stated that he would like to see the end of child detention this year. But this aim should be seen as a source of optimism, rather than an opportunity to criticise the Liberal Democrats. Guardian readers may not agree with all aspects of the coalition's policy, but abolishing child detention is surely a subject on which we see eye to eye.

The article also states: "A total of 1,085 children were detained as a result of this policy last year. More than 100 were detained between April and June this year." But further context may be added by including the number of children in immigration detention centres right now, which is zero.

The Liberal Democrats have long campaigned to bring an end to the reprehensible practice of detaining children. The deputy prime minister has described child detention as a "moral outrage" and "state-sponsored cruelty". We recognise that, above moral arguments, there is good reason to be concerned about the potential implications for the health of detained children, as has been illustrated by medical reports such as that recently produced by Medical Justice.

The party has consistently said that we will end child detention as soon as possible while maintaining both the safety and wellbeing of the children and the integrity of our immigration system. Lest we forget, ours was the only party which made this pledge in its manifesto. It represented a major coup when it was included in the coalition's programme for government.

The coalition has set about resolving the issue with the utmost urgency, in no small part because of the Liberal Democrat dedication to the cause. What Labour had the opportunity to resolve in years, we aim to address in nine months.

This marks a substantive change in terms of government policy and as such will take time while suitable alternative guidelines are finalised for the UK Border Agency. There are specific problems that have to be worked through to deal with exceptional cases, but that work is progressing well.

The end of child detention is nigh; it would be nice if we could celebrate the positive outcome of a long and hard-fought campaign instead of fending off personal criticism of our leader.